X-bit labs

ASUS M5A Notebook: Compact, Lightweight and High-Performance? (page 7)

Category: Mobile

by Galina Sudareva

[ 05/02/2005 | 10:37 PM ]

The results obtained in Unreal Tournament 2003 are quite impressive. The ASUS M5A wins here leaving its rival far behind (which ids actually no surprise for us). It’s by 57% faster in botmatch-antalus, 52% faster in botmatch-citadel and 58% faster in flyby-asbestos than the Acer TravelMate 6003LCi irrespective of the power source. For more details, check the following table:

And the diagrams:

So, the new integrated graphics core offers more speed than the core integrated into the previous, i855GME chipset. Intel’s GMA 900 brings you more performance, good image quality, compatibility with a wide range of applications, extended functionality, and optimized use of system resources.

Next I tested the battery life time of the ASUS M5A notebook using Battery Eater Pro 2.50. This time it wouldn’t be correct to compare this notebook to the Acer TravelMate 6003LCi as they differ in the size of their LCD matrixes as well as in the market positioning. I performed this test at the maximum screen brightness and in three modes:

• Classic mode when the system bears an evenly distributed high load
• Reader’s mode
• DVD watching mode

The results follow below:

So, the battery of the ASUS M5A can last as long as 2 hours 49 minutes in the classic mode, 3 hours 27 minutes in the reader’s mode, and 3 hours 15 minutes in the DVD mode, the screen brightness being at the maximum.

This is a good performance, and the notebook suits well the definition of “portable”. The same numbers, in a diagram, for better comparison: